Cutler called upon to 'stop the bleeding'

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Apr 7, 2006 by James Edward Deseret Morning News

Among the many things he learned about his team in last weekend's season-opening loss, Real Salt Lake coach John Ellinger discovered that his opening day midfield wasn't a winning formula.

The tandem of Andy Williams at attacking midfield and Douglas Sequeira at holding mid was a defensive disaster. That reality was made more obvious by the surprisingly dynamic tandem of Jesse Marsch and rookie Sacha Kljestan for Chivas USA.

"They're pretty good at not dribbling by people, they're passers," said Ellinger. "So you never really have to worry about too many turnovers."

It's referred to as midfielders who share the space. Instead of being constrained by set positions, the two central midfielders let the situation dictate who pushes forward and who doesn't. More importantly though, because they both have similar defensive responsibilities, their team is rarely in a defense jam.

"I think you'll find that the better teams have two guys who can share that space pretty consistent and get the job done, versus an attacking and holding midfielder because you always have to worry about the attacking guy getting back," said Ellinger.

RSL is hoping that by mimicking the sharing mentality, the results this weekend in Dallas will be much better.

To help "stop the bleeding" in the midfield, Ellinger is planning on inserting traditional defensive midfielder Kenny Cutler into the midfield to the share the space with Sequeira. Conversely, he'll move Williams from his attacking midfield spot to striker.

While it may seem like a bizarre move, it should help solidify RSL's defensive midfield shape. Ironically enough, it might actually help stabilize the attack as well.

Throughout the league, Chivas' Marsch is regarded as one of the most underrated players. He's a distributor who doesn't mess around with the ball. When on the ball, he's quick to find teammates and he's a very precise passer, and as a result, he rarely puts himself in a defensive jam.

With a year of MLS experience under his belt, in addition to a style of play like Marsch's, Cutler could help revive RSL's midfield.

If nothing else, he'll work hard, something desperately missing the first 67 minutes of Sunday's loss at Chivas, before Cutler entered the game.

"To be honest, I was pretty embarrassed by it. Walking off the field I couldn't believe . . . the lack of pride we basically showed," said RSL midfielder Carey Talley. "I do think that Kenny came in, and in my opinion he worked, he played a role and did exactly what was asked of him."

Talley points out that Cutler wasn't asked to score goals, but rather win the ball in the midfield and give it somebody else.

"I thought Kenny did an admirable job of coming in, and a lot of people can feed off that," said Talley. "And I'll tell you what, Kenny Cutler was the best player in practice today."

Throughout Thursday's training session in the University of Utah indoor facility, Cutler hustled all over the field doing what he does best -- winning the ball.

Ellinger doesn't expect Cutler to evolve into an offensive star overnight; after all, he didn't register a single goal or assist in 19 games last year. What the RSL coach is counting on is high work- rate in the midfield that will not only shore up the defense, but inspire his teammates to work hard along with him.

E-mail: jedward@desnews.com